Improved elevator-leg



Q 4 i@ abated tant @man l @ttt-we. We T GEORGE H. JOHNSON, OF BUFFALO,NEW Yoan, ASSIGNOE` To 4|niMSi'iLFAND 'GEORGE W.'TIFFT, SONS,AND-COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

Leiters Patent-N0. 86,927, ama Febwmyit, 1869.

IMPROVED ELEVATOR-LEG.

'Phe Schedule referred to in these LettersPant and making part of thesame.

a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference,

being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of' thisspecification.

My improvement relates to what are technically known as ship-legs, thatis, those employed directly in removing grain from the hold of avesseljas distinguished from those employed within the store-houses, forthe piu-pose of distributing grain to the bins, or discharging ittherefrom.

Ship-legs are hung, at their upper end, in a sliding frame, so that thelower end, or foot thereof, may be swung outward, over the hatch of avessel, and lowered thronghythe same into the hold.

The hatches are frequently so small as to barely admit the'passage ofthe leg, and it is therefore subjected to severe strains and injury inits insertion and removal.

The movement of the vessel, from agitation of the water in which itfloats, is another fruitful source of injury to the leg.

In View of the foregoing, the nature of my invention consists in thearrangement of angle-bars longitudinally upon thel external corners ofan iron elevator-leg, not only to secure together the thin plates ofwhich the bucket-tubes are formed, but also to protect them from injuryin inserting or withdrawing the leg from the hold of avessel.-

In the accompanying drawings- Figure I is a side elevation of anelevator-leg of my im proved construction Figure II is a front elevationthereof; and

.Figure IH is a cross-section of one of the buckettubes. l

Like letters refer to like parts in each of the gures.

A isthe front, and A', the rear bucket-tube of an .elevator-leg.

B is the head-box, serving to connect the upper ends ofthe tubes A and Atogether, and to receive the head pulley, over which the belt carryingthe buckets runs.' An extension thereof; shown at B', forms the spout,through which the buckets discharge the grain.V

O is the foot-box, serving to connect the lower ends of the bucket-tubestogether, and also to receive the foot-pulley, by which the lower turnof the bucket-belt withdrawn from'the hold of a vessel.

is effected, and the proper tension thereof maintained. This box has thecommon openings at the bottom and sides, to admit the grain to thebuckets.

The bucket-tubes are formed of .thin sheet-metal plates, d (l, and arerectangular in cross-section, said plates being secured together bybeing riveted to augle-iron bars, E E, applied longitudinally to theex-v 'ternal corners of the tubes, the rivets having countersunk heads,both inside and out.

lIl he angle-bars have their internal angle a right angle, so that theymay t properly to the right-angle corners of the tubes.

` This construction leaves the interior ,surface of the tubes smooth,and free for the unobstructed passage the buckets, and is a' veryimportant feature, inasmuch as the great length of the bucket-belt,especially when it becomes a little slack, causes it to sway, and throwthe buckets against the interior" surface of the leg, so that anyunevenness or projection could not but destroy or injure the buckets.

But the arrangementof the angle-bars is even more important,"as securingthe bucket-tubes against external injury, when the leg is inserted intoor being Projecting, as they do, above the surface of the tubes, theyprevent the thin plates, of which the tubes are formed, from coming incontact with the sides'of the hatchway, and receive all the wearand teardue to frictional contact therewith. A

The back and front tubes are connected together by diagonal braces, F,riveted to the side plates of the tubes. j

The braces have the Same thickness as the angleirons, and theangle-irons upon the-inside corners of the back and front tubes are cutaway to receive the braces, so that the braces may not project beyondthe angle-irons, and interfere with the free movement of the leg inpassing up or down through a hatchway.

Having-thus described my invention,

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat-l tent, is-

The arrangement of the angle-bars E E longitudi-v nally upon theexternal corners of the bucket-tubes of an elevator-leg, to uniteandprotect the plates thereof,

